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The California Supreme Court will weigh in on whether environmental review is required for each new water well project. The issue of groundwater extraction heightened during California’s prolonged drought.

The day before commercial fishermen were due to bring the first of the season’s Dungeness crab to Bay Area docks, they made other news. On Wednesday, West Coast crab fishermen filed a lawsuit alleging that 30 fossil fuel companies are to blame for the past several years of delayed seasons and disastrous economic losses due to ocean warming.

Forecasters are usually on the mark when predicting what tomorrow’s weather will bring. But can we ever get accurate precipitation forecasts — critical for managing water supplies — weeks to months in advance? At Water Year 2019: Feast or Famine, a one-day workshop Dec. 5 in Irvine, scientists from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Western Regional Climate Center and the California Department of Water Resources will offer insights into the latest research on improving long-range weather forecasting and what it means for water management.

The U.S. Senate approved a compromise policy Wednesday on dumping ship ballast water in coastal ports and the Great Lakes, a practice blamed for spreading invasive species that damage the environment and the economy. The plan, part of a $10.6 billion Coast Guard budget authorization bill, includes provisions sought by environmentalists as well as the cargo shipping industry.

A review of the damage to recreation sites from major wildfires this year in the Sierra Nevada and Northern California show a crazy-quilt pattern of destruction. Some sites were incinerated, and yet others nearby escaped all harm, according to district rangers, fire specialists and field scouts on site.

Del Oro Water Co. and CaWaterBoards are advising customers and/or emergency responders to boil water for drinking and cooking purposes in the following districts: Paradise Pines, Magalia, Lime Saddle, Stirling Bluffs and Buzztail.

The massive burn scar encompasses more than 30 square miles (80 square kilometers) within the recreation area that stretches from beaches inland to mountains straddling Los Angeles and Ventura counties. It’s the largest urban national park in the nation, with more than 30 million visitors every year.

Last year was California’s most destructive fire season. That is, until this year. And while climate change cannot be blamed for individual fires like those currently burning at both ends of the state, scientist Daniel Swain says climate change is a “threat multiplier,” creating conditions that will lead to more large, fast-moving and dangerous wildfires.

In response to the threat of a lawsuit over sewer spills, Newport Beach agreed Wednesday to make improvements to its sewage system, its spill reporting process and its infrastructure monitoring process. It also agreed to pay $50,000 in legal and expert analysis costs to California River Watch, which had threatened the suit.

Inclusion of several Point Reyes National Seashore ranches on the National Register of Historic Places will play a role in the ongoing review of the future of these ranches in the park, according to park officials. … The designation comes as the park is preparing an environmental review on how it should manage tule elk and the leases that allow ranchers to operate in the park.

Humboldt State University is on the verge of receiving an 884-acre forest near campus, which will be used for research and field experiences. … “This is a big moment for Humboldt State University,” said HSU President Lisa Rossbacher. “The new forestland will provide amazing opportunities for our students, while also helping to protect an important watershed.

Ellen DeGeneres loves Nut Thins, the crackers made with Blue Diamond almonds, growers meeting in Modesto heard Wednesday. The company reported $1.57 billion in net sales in the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, up from $1.48 billion the previous year. Leaders credited this, in part, to marketing that featured the talk show host and other traditional and social media.

Wayne Smith was hardened to a certain level of chaos here [Carlsbad, New Mexico], on land the American public owns. But even he was incredulous as he surveyed an area he leases for grazing, now cleared of grass and cluttered with above-ground pipelines, a drill pad for multiple wells and other oil and gas infrastructure. “I still pay a grazing lease right there,” Smith said in May, pointing to a government map showing there should be no more than 17 acres of development on the site instead of the 125 acres he saw in front of him. “Now, what’s my cow going to eat?”

Robert Delaney says his discovery of widespread PFAS chemicals in Michigan’s environment shook him to the core. Testifying Tuesday, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Superfund specialist said he believed federal laws were enough to protect the public health and track thousands of chemicals from the moment manufacturers release them to the public.

Giraffes, once plentiful throughout Africa, have plummeted close to extinction in some regions. In others, populations of the graceful treetop browsers actually have grown through conservation efforts. That’s the latest and mixed assessment from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, released Wednesday.

After facing near-extinction, mountain gorillas are slowly rebounding. On Wednesday, the Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature updated mountain gorillas’ status from “critically endangered” to “endangered,” a more promising, if still precarious, designation.

The next few weeks could make or break Arizona’s water future. That’s not hyperbole. Lake Mead – which supplies 40 percent of our water – has a one in five chance of falling to catastrophically low levels by 2026, requiring cuts that will hurt every water user in this state.

After a slew of climate-friendly ballot initiatives went down in flames on Election Day in Arizona, Colorado and Washington, greens needed something to cheer them up. Days later the good news came in the form of a possibly deal-killing setback to a controversial oil pipeline: A federal judge sent the Keystone XL proposal back to the drawing board because it failed to comply with federal environmental regulations.